Composites Materials Characterization
Intertek’s integrated approach to characterization of composites provides unique insight for development of next generation materials.
Intertek has expertise in composite identification and characterization using a variety of spectroscopic, thermal and rheological methods. These techniques are typically used to study curatives, formulations, resins and filled systems, either during processing or as final products. An area of emphasis is our ability to greatly accelerate the material selection process for thermosetting matrices used in composites, especially when compared to traditionally practiced characterization methods.
Composites Characterization Services
The following is a list of unique composite characterization services offered by Intertek Allentown laboratory to a wide-variety of global industries:
Development of Formulating Models
- Reduces product development cycle time for front-end materials selection
- Useful for understanding the breadth of processing properties for a set of materials
- Predictive Capability for Key Processing Parameters
- Allows the calculation of material properties without additional experimentation
- Answers: “What properties can I expect from the following formulation?”
- Optimization Capability
- Enables the selection of a formulation which best meets desired criteria, including performance attributes and product cost
- Answers: “What formulation would I need to match a given performance?”
Rheological Analysis - Viscosity Profiles During Cure
- Establishes relationships between formulations and resulting material properties
- Provides a wealth of information relative to traditional, single point measurements for reactive systems
- Ability to perform measurements at controlled temperature, humidity, and frequency
- Able to accomodate materials with cure times from minutes to days
- Properties measured: pot life, gel time, working time, and others
Thermal Analysis
- Glass transition temperature, Tg, by DSC
- Determination of residual cure exotherms
- Decomposition temperature, volatiles content, filler content by TGA
Chemical Analysis
- Materials identification and qualification
- Reaction monitoring to understand cure chemistries
- Epoxy cure with Near-IR
- Polyurea cure with Mid-IR
Related Services
Request more information to see how Intertek can help your organization with Composites Materials Characterization.